Little Dipper

That Miserable Night

"The foundation of my fear..." Bill bit his lip, looking at the flyers. "...Is for people to...see it. To know...what happened. It's..." He clenched his fists. "D-Damn it!"

"Do you know what to do?" Keyhole asked.

"Sh-Shut up!" Bill grabbed one of the flyers and handed it to Stan, then another to Ford. He didn't even look at what was on them.

"Yech, you kissed that guy?" Stan asked.

"Wow, you are so drunk." Ford commented.

"The flyers are still here...why?" Bill looked at Keyhole.

"Let me make it easier for you." Keyhole sighed. "I'm getting bored of this, honestly. You're taking so long." The flyers suddenly all fell to the ground at their feet.

"What?" Bill looked confused.

Keyhole gestured to the pile. "Figure it out."

Bill knelt down and picked up the pictures. "No...you're not saying..I have to show ALL of them?!"

"Oh, I know! Let's see if you guys can uncover them in chronological order!" Keyhole clapped his hands and the pictures left their hands as they all lay on the floor next to each other, face-down. "Every time you get it out of order, the game will reset. Better make sure you have a good memory!" He said cheerfully.

"I thought you said you were bored of this, that you didn't want to do it?" Stan asked.

"Nah, I just decided I'm actually mad enough at Bill to torment him for a while. I wonder how long your little wizard friend will hold out?" Keyhole leaned against the wall. "Good luck. You better sear those images and the order you need to flip them into your mind if you want to pass this challenge."

"....You're actually a bastard, aren't you?" Bill muttered, reaching for one. When it didn't move, he went on to another until he found one that flipped over finally. It was of Bill at the party, chatting it up with Pyronica and Pacifier about something. "Okay...one down..." He looked at the pictures. "...Way too many to count."

"There's 35. Five rows of seven." Keyhole said, chuckling a bit. "Oh, do you have your work cut out for you."

Bill touched another one and the first one flipped over. "...Not that one, then."

"Bill, how can we help?" Ford asked.

"Memorize where the previous ones are, and help me flip them back over when I touch the wrong one." Bill glared at Keyhole. "You're actually enjoying this."

"Well, you did boss me around a lot. You mistake my patience with a spoiled child for sexual pleasure at being treated like garbage." Keyhole said pointedly.

"...Right. You heard that, huh?" Bill sighed.

"Yes, I heard everything you said. I even heard your thoughts." Keyhole stepped away from the wall and knelt across from them by the pictures. "It wasn't me. I knew about it, I did nothing to stop it, but it wasn't my idea. Pretty sure everyone but Pyronica knew about it."

Bill tensed up, his eye widening, before he looked at him. "You KNEW?!"

"Everyone but Pyronica thought you were a little bitch that needed to be put in his place." Keyhole shrugged. "I won't say whose idea it was, but we all agreed you needed to be brought down a peg or two."

"You bastard!" Bill stood up.

"You're wasting time. The wizard boy will lose if you don't leave here. Finish the puzzle." Keyhole stood up and walked back over to the wall. "You can call me names all you want, but you have to finish this and show your new friends what you NEVER wanted to be known if you want to get out of here. And we also have their fears to play with, that's going to be fun."

"Plural?" Bill frowned. "Wasn't there just one?"

"Ah, no. You outran Stanley's big fear. I guess you were just too excited to get to the door." Keyhole hummed.

"...Great." Bill focused on the pictures, flipping over another one. Stan and Ford noted where that one was, and Ford even grabbed a notepad from his pocket and made a diagram, writing numbers on the cards that were already flipped over.

"You're not going to change the order on us, are you?" Stan asked.

"Of course not, I'm not THAT cruel. I want to get out of here sometime too, you know." Keyhole rolled his eyes.

They continued flipping pictures, having to redo them several times until they finally flipped them all. By the time they finished, Bill was feeling like he was going to be sick, tears slipping down his cheeks as he fought back the blurry audio memories that the flyers didn't contain. Stan and Ford were both mutually ready to tear Kryptos, Keyhole, and anyone else involved to pieces.

"Who knew you could be such a sex kitten?" Keyhole remarked as the flyers finally vanished.

Bill stood up, furious. "And I had no idea you were such a creep!"

"Please, give me some credit. All I said was that messing with you was a good idea. It was someone else that decided HOW it would go." Keyhole shrugged. "Anyways, which shall we do next? Stanley? Or Stanford?"

Bill wiped at his eyes, blinking back tears. "All of them knew...everyone but Pyronica...and they just let him..let him whisk me away and...do that to me..."

"Cipher!" Keyhole clapped his hands. "Pay attention! Decide amongst yourselves or I'll decide for you!"

"Which is less traumatizing?" Stan asked.

"Probably your father." Keyhole grinned a bit.

"We'll do him next, then." Stan said firmly.

"Ah, save the worst for last. Alright." He touched the wall that Filbrick Pines was on and clapped his hands. "Let's get this show on the road. How will you face your innate fear of your father? On what foundation does that fear stand?"